


Stupid Cellphones

by InkstainedGwyn



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Older partners, a little bit of almost-family tragedy, don't worry nanako's ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 05:10:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15135821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkstainedGwyn/pseuds/InkstainedGwyn
Summary: After a cellphone-related misunderstanding, Souji and Yosuke drift apart. A decade later they run into one another again - can they make up for the past?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I actually had two ideas for this story, the second one involving shadows - that one will probably get written at some point. I'm not sure where all of the "older souyo after time apart" stories are coming from, but here you go.
> 
> As always, poke me on my [tumblr](http://ohlookashinysquirrel.tumblr.com/)!

Looking up from his bike, Yosuke saw Souji approaching him, hands in his pocket, school satchel under one arm, as always. 

“You ready to head home?”

The brunette grinned, tossing the lock into his bike basket as he stood up. “You betcha, partner!” 

Wheeling his bike down the path, Yosuke walked next to Souji - it was cheesy, but this was always the place he felt most comfortable. “So, what’s the plan for this evening? Want to hit up Aiya’s? Or do you have to get back and cook for Nanako-chan?” 

* * *

Souji was just about to answer when a loud, annoying, buzzing sound woke Yosuke from his dream. Sitting up, the brunette blinked blearily at his alarm clock.

 _5am. Ugh. Time to get up. I hate working on Saturdays..._  He toyed with the idea of working from home today - especially after a dream like that - but he couldn’t, not with the new contractors coming in today. They’d be working on a project for the next few months, and it was important to make a good impression, since Yosuke was one of the team leads. Besides, he had no idea when his mother’s health would take another turn for the worse; his company understood, but only because Yosuke kept his work so far beyond where it needed to be at any one time that they could spare him for a day or two as he went back to Inaba in a panic. 

And, to be fair, he had dreams like that a lot. He didn’t talk to anybody about them - why would he? It was a remnant of time past, back before Yosuke had made a mess of the best friendship he’d ever had - would ever have. It wasn't something he wanted to dwell on any more than he already did.

As he got ready for work, he thought back on that summer, the one that had separated them. Souji had moved, as expected, and the days after his move were lonely - and brought with them a lot of thoughts and feelings for Souji that the brunette didn’t know how to handle. The two still talked, of course, but Yosuke knew that he wasn’t being as attentive as he should have been. Too many times he’d let a text go overnight, or responded less enthusiastically than he should have, especially given _just how much_ he missed his partner.

In retrospect, even if he hadn’t meant for it to happen, the separation was his fault, not Souji’s. One day, Yosuke (in true Hanamura style), had been hurrying to work one afternoon when he tripped and dropped his phone. Usually it wouldn’t have been so bad, but it had been raining all day, and his phone fell straight into a puddle. He’d fished it out, but it was too late; he’d been forced to wait through work, and once he got home he’d tried to dry it out in a container of rice, but the damage was done. He’d have to wait until his next Junes paycheck rolled in.

It hurt. Gone were all of the photos he’d taken over the year that Souji had been with him, all of his photos of the two of them together, a year’s worth of chat and texts and conversations. On the flip side, however, it also gave him a little breathing room to figure out how he felt about Souji. And given that his next paycheck was a week later, he didn’t see the need to go to Chie, or Naoto, or one of their friends to ask them to let Souji know. Besides, he hadn’t wanted Chie to make fun of his bad luck like she was so fond of doing.

Maybe it was a bit assholeish, but he figured his friend would understand.

By the time he got his paycheck, he was more than ready to talk to Souji again - in fact, even if he hadn’t quite gotten to the point where he was willing to admit that he had feelings for Souji (or what those feelings were) he wanted to talk about them. His first stop was the phone section in Junes; they weren’t able to save the files on his phone, but they _could_ import his contact list, which was a blessing. 

Turning on his new phone, he got ready to send Souji an apology text-

-only to find sixteen new texts waiting for him from his friend.

They started normal.

> Hey partner, what’s up?

> Long day at school, this place is such a drag. 

After a few, they started to take on a worried tone.

> Everything ok? I haven’t heard from you in a bit. 

> Work okay? They’re not pushing you too hard, are they?

Then, about eight texts in… they started to tear at Yosuke’s heartstrings.

> I- I don’t know if I should ask but did I do something to upset you?

> Yosuke, I’m worried about you. I don’t see anything about accidents on the Inaba news. Are you okay?

> Did you get sick?

> Please, partner… just let me know you’re okay.

Yosuke was having trouble seeing through the tears at this; the messages finally ended with a block of text that spanned the length of three chat bubbles. 

> Yosuke I… I don’t know what to say. I reached out to Chie, and she says you’re fine. I can only assume that I did something to upset you, and whatever it was… I’m sorry. I- I wish you’d tell me what it was. We’re partners, right? Don’t I deserve a chance to apologise? I just… I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m lonely, I miss Inaba, I wish I’d never had to leave. I miss everybody… but more than anybody, I miss you. I never wanted to leave you, Yosuke. And now… now, somehow, I made you mad or pushed you away… I’m so scared. You’re my best friend, and now… I can’t even talk to you. I can’t even say goodbye. My parents are leaving again and I have to go with them. I might be gone for years. Please… just let me know what's up, Yosuke. Let me make amends. Let me say goodbye.

It had been sent days ago.

Panicked, Yosuke frantically typed out a text - full of a thousand typos and he didn't care - explaining everything and begging his friend to call him. Praying that Souji would read it he hit send… only to have it returned as “unable to reach sender.” 

Feeling sick, he sent messages to his other friends. Chie was the first to respond, confirming that Souji had just messaged her a couple of days before - telling her only that the brunette had ‘seemed stressed’ and he was worried, not that they hadn’t been talking -  and she then scolded the brunette for hiding his troubles from Souji, as if that didn’t make things _worse_. She (and everyone else) told him that they’d gotten a good-bye text from Souji the day before, saying that he’d see them again when he could. 

Yosuke was devastated. 

After a week of bad sleep (and sleepless nights), Yosuke ran into Dojima at Junes. Seeing Nanako was something of a blessing - the little girl could bring sunshine out even for the rainiest heart - but Dojima was oblivious to Yosuke’s suffering and his news could not be worse. Souji’s family had moved to the middle east the day before Yosuke had texted him back, and this time he’d gone with them as they were going to be gone for an extended amount of time; he would probably be going to university overseas, especially as they’d be much closer to Europe. 

Hesitantly, the brunette asked if there was any way he could contact Souji; Dojima gave him an odd look, as if surprised he’d ask, and answered in the negative. With Souji’s father being a diplomat it was hard to reach them when they were in foreign locations. He reassured Yosuke that he’d let him know if he heard anything, but Yosuke knew that it was just a form of politeness.

Unless a miracle happened, he was never going to talk to Souji again.

Although he was a wreck that summer, he managed to pull himself together for school, and although he no longer cared what university he went to, he found one that would take him, and studied business - why not, since Junes had pretty much paved the way for him? With Souji gone, he no longer had any urges to step out of his comfort zone. 

Souji never contacted anyone in the IT after that, and although most of them stayed in touch, it wasn’t more than birthday cards and New Years’ wishes. Yosuke got a job in an office; marketing was a safe bet, especially given his personality, and he did well. Still, there was always a small echo in the back of his mind that reminded him of Souji. He knew it was stupid to let a teenage friendship haunt him so- but no. He and Souji had been more than friends, they’d gone through too much together.

And to be fair, he’d never been able to get over Souji, either. He’d dated a few times in uni, had even tried seriously to make his last girlfriend work, before graduation, but… he couldn’t keep it going, and he knew that he was being unfair to her. And now, four years later, he was still single - “married to his job,” his parents said. 

Not like he needed to tell them anything different. It made his mother sad - especially now, although she’d stopped mentioning “seeing grandchildren before the inevitable happened.” Yosuke didn’t know what to say to her, but he couldn’t give her what she wanted. So he did his best to make it up to her otherwise. 

* * *

He was still dragging when he finally got into the office, but an espresso later and he was ready to meet the new contractors. He was sitting at his desk, keeping an eye on the project chat room when the door opened; their guests were right on time, as he liked to see, and he stood up and walked over to the entryway to greet them. He knew he cut a decent figure - he kept his suits smart and tailored, and his smile sunny even when he didn’t feel it - and he was ready to kick this project off with a bang.

There were three new team members, all on staff only for the duration of the project, since the office didn’t normally have a full PR team, so they’d bring in specialists whenever they were working on something that needed extra insight. The third one through the door caught Yosuke’s eye - of _course_ he did, being tall, with silver hair - but it wasn’t until the man had shut the door and turned to greet them that Yosuke found himself stunned into silence.

 _It was_ actually _Souji_. 

There wasn’t even a doubt, and even if there had been the momentary look of shock (which Yosuke knew matched his own) that flashed across Souji’s face at the sight of Yosuke would have clinched it. Yosuke managed to recover in another moment, and was glad to find that he hadn’t dropped his pen or knocked anything over - and he slapped his finest smile on as he greeted each of the new members, introducing them to the rest of the team. 

He’d hoped for _some_ sort of recognition from Souji, but what he got made him feel hollow. It wasn’t as if they could feign ignorance of one another, not given their reactions, but Souji’s greeting was as cold and impersonal as if they’d been acquaintances in college.

“Yosuke Hanamura, fancy meeting you here! How have you been?”

The brunette, at least, had learned in his years since college; he might have wanted to take Souji by the arm and immediately apologise, but he knew it wasn’t the time or the place. “I’m great, how are you, Souji? Souji Seta, this is the team. Team, this is Souji.” 

Introductions made, Yosuke showed the members to their desks, and they spent the rest of the morning with a few other teammates getting setup with their emails, project details, and things of that nature. Yosuke had his own work to do, but he couldn’t stop his mind from whirling, and more than once he glanced over to look at Souji.

He looked good. He’d grown as tall as Yosuke would have expected, and the bowl cut was gone - his haircut was similar, but more dynamic, suited to a PR person. His suit was tailored and looked amazing on him, highlighting his tan; it made Yosuke remember _the middle east_ and it hurt. His smile was charming, but one of the first thing that Yosuke realised was that it never met Souji’s eyes, which remained completely shuttered. 

The sight smote Yosuke’s heart. Even as he reasoned with himself - he had no idea what had happened in the last nine years, after all - that small voice in the back of his mind whispered:

_no, you were partners, and you betrayed him_

Even if he knew it hadn’t been intentional, the fault still rested with him, and it weighed heavily on his heart, especially given how gentle and caring Souji had been before. It was such a change that Yosuke wondered if he _had_ been overthinking his own role in it, and maybe something else had happened?

He kept the internal debate up for the rest of the day, although outwardly he didn’t let it show; they had too much work to do, and he couldn’t help wanting to be on top of his game, especially given how uncertain he felt, working in such proximity to Souji (and as his team lead, too.) Still, once the day was wrapping up, the brunette steeled his courage and approached Souji.

“Hey, Souji. If you’ve got some time, I’d really like to talk, do you think we could get drinks or something?”

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but he wasn’t expecting Souji to turn to him with a blinding smile. For a moment, he had hope - but it was short-lived as his former partner opened his mouth.

“That sounds like a great idea! Let’s all go out and celebrate the start of a great partnership. Hey, everybody! Let’s go get drinks!”

_That- that wasn’t what I meant-_

It wasn’t what Yosuke meant, but he also knew he was in no position to argue, especially since everyone was agreeing, and it ultimately was a better option as a group, as they needed some teambuilding to make sure that they were all working together as smoothly as possible. He wasn’t stupid, though; he knew how to read Souji well enough - even as closed-off as he was - to know that this wasn’t Souji trying to make up for a bad idea. This was Souji blowing Yosuke off.

It was hard, so hard to go that night. It was actually a very productive night out - it seemed that most people on the team were going to get along well, and Yosuke couldn’t see any personalities that seemed too likely to clash - other than his own and Souji’s, apparently. Although it seemed more that Souji was going to do whatever it took not to have a confrontation. 

Yosuke didn’t blame him, but that didn’t make things any easier. 

* * *

That night, Yosuke laid in bed for a long time, thinking back to highschool, to Inaba, to Souji and the TV world. The idea that all of that could just be… _gone_ , was killing him. He’d made mistakes, sure - but was he never going to be allowed to make up for them? All he could do was vow to try harder. Surely some time would come that he could get Souji alone - even if he had to blurt everything out just to force his old friend to listen (although he’d really rather not, that was a very embarrassing thought.) Still, he’d do embarrassing, if it got him his friend back. 

Souji, it seemed, had other thoughts. No matter how hard Yosuke tried, he _couldn’t_ get the guy alone - and he definitely tried. The few times Yosuke did manage to start a conversation with him, he immediately included other coworkers in it, or turned it into a group discussion. The only “good” thing - and it wasn’t good, but it was at least a saving grace - was that as much as Yosuke was afraid there would be visibly lingering bad feelings, there weren’t. Souji was always upbeat, complementary, and positive - all so generic that there was nothing _real_ about any of it. He was the consummate PR person, a perfect “ideas” man.

Of course, this meant that the _real_ Souji - and no, Yosuke wasn’t going to accept the adage that “people change”, not _that_ much - was completely gone, or at least hidden. And that was sadder than anything they’d gone through back in Inaba. Why did Souji, of all people, deserve to end up this way?

Anyone else would have called Yosuke crazy. Souji was always smiling, always chatting with people - but Yosuke had _seen_ kind, gentle, friendly Souji, and this was a shadow (except that shadows were much closer to their hosts). At least for what it was worth - and it wasn’t worth much - he was grateful to see that he was just as closed off with everyone else. He didn’t want Souji to be like this at _all_ , but… it would have been the final nail in the coffin if he’d only been closed-off to Yosuke. 

It was killing Yosuke. When they’d first started working together, the brunette had hoped that, if he couldn’t get Souji to listen to him, such a change in personality would finally kill off the love that had lingered in Yosuke’s heart even if it had been sleeping for nearly a decade. But it wasn’t working. He kept remembering his partner, the guy he’d fought so hard to be equals with, and he couldn’t stop himself from hoping against hope that he’d find some way to get through to him. 

It didn’t stop him from getting angry, though. Yes, he’d made a mistake. Yes, he was at fault. But for Souji to not even be willing to give him ten minutes to explain… it was frustrating. 

He was almost glad that they were out of range of the TV; he could only imagine what Izanagi and Jiraiya were thinking about this whole mess.

* * *

Souji was tired. Never in a thousand years would he have imagined that his new contract work would have had him working alongside - under, in fact! - Yosuke Hanamura. If he hadn’t been so hell-bent on not staining his professional record (and, to be honest, not letting Yosuke think that his presence mattered to Souji) he would have asked to be put on another job.

But Souji was stubborn, and he wasn’t going to let Yosuke hurt him any more than the brunette already had. He’d never gotten an answer as to what he’d done to his former friend in the first place to make him drop Souji so suddenly, and by this point he didn’t care - and even if he had cared, it wouldn’t matter. Things were too long broken to be fixed. 

Besides, it had made Souji who he was today. Even if he’d originally locked himself away because he couldn’t let himself rely on someone else again, that was what had gotten him to the position he was in now. Moving through the ranks was easy when you were only focused on yourself, and not having anyone else to worry about meant he was able to make the most beneficial decision in any situation he might find himself. He wasn’t a _bad_ person - he hadn’t lost that part of himself. Being abandoned by Yosuke hadn’t changed his core. But it did mean that he only had himself to consider whenever he had to make choices.

Since coming to work with Yosuke, however, he’d found those days in Inaba coming back to him more and more frequently. Even though he’d managed to block it out for a couple of days, eventually he started to remember just how much he’d cared for Yosuke - _loved_ Yosuke, even if he’d known he would never have had a chance with the brunette.

(Even if he still harboured feelings for Yosuke, he would never have allowed himself to acknowledge it.)

But that just made it worse, because he also remembered the pain, the loneliness, the heartache. The confusion of watching, day after day, for a response that never came. The agony of pouring his heart out in a message that had taken him all of his courage to write - only to receive silence in return. 

And now, to see Yosuke again - still dapper, still bright, still _cheerful_ … it was clear that nothing had changed for the brunette. Sure, he seemed to want to talk to Souji, just the two of them, but what good would that do? Souji would get some half-assed excuse about “I forgot” or “I didn’t have time,” and all that would have done was dig the thorn deeper. 

He didn’t need it.

Instead, he vowed to work as fast as he could on this project, make it the best that he could. The sooner it succeeded, the sooner he could leave, go back to his office, go onto another job and back to “forgetting” Yosuke. Back to having the past stay locked away where it didn’t hurt anymore. 

It couldn’t come soon enough.


	2. Chapter 2

About a month and a half after the start of the project, the group was working together one afternoon on a brainstorming session after some new element demos by the different team branches, when someone hurried in with a message for Yosuke. Souji ignored it - whatever management needed was none of his business - but when the brunette’s face paled, he couldn’t stop himself from sitting up a little, wondering what was going on. 

After reading the message, Yosuke said only that it was a family emergency before excusing himself; even though Souji tried to seem disinterested he couldn’t _completely_ bring himself to not care, and he must have had a somewhat-confused expression on his face, as one of Yosuke’s coworkers spoke up.

“Hanamura’s mother has been sick for a while. I don’t know the details, but apparently it’s some chronic disease. It’s not an all-the-time thing, but sometimes he has to ditch work for a day or two to go back home to see her. I think she’s been up to specialists here once or twice, too.

It took several seconds for it all to sink in. _Yosuke’s mother, sick?_ Souji hadn’t been as close to her as he had been to Dojima, of course, but she’d been very kind to him the times that they’d met, and the thought sobered him. He’d sworn he was done caring about Yosuke but… well, it would take a monster not to feel something at such a revelation. Souji wondered how Mr. Hanamura was dealing with it, and Teddie, too. By the time Souji had left Inaba, the younger boy was already calling her “mom.”

Thinking back to the cheerful expression the brunette had shown, day after day, Souji found himself feeling sober. He never would have guessed that Yosuke was hiding something like this. This brought an unbidden thought.

_What other pain is he hiding behind a cheerful facade?_

Resolutely pushing this question away - it didn’t _matter_ , he wasn’t here to make friends again - Souji shook his head and got back to work. It was going to be a long night, especially without the team lead; to Souji’s surprise, however, several hours later, Yosuke walked back through the door, looking tired. Upon an inquiry from the same coworker, Yosuke responded that she “was okay, it was just an attack, but that they’d warned that it could be worse next time.” 

This clearly looked like something the brunette was used to, and it was just as clearly wearing on him. Souji remembered the day they’d found that Saki Konishi had been killed; change the clothes and it could be the same scene before him. Seeing that kind of pain and anxiety on Yosuke’s face smote Souji’s heart, even as he told himself that it was only nostalgia, and that he needed to let it go; still, as much as he might try to pass himself off as one, Souji was not a monster, and he had to admit that he was concerned for Yosuke.

As the night was winding down, and against his better judgement, Souji stopped Yosuke before he could leave his desk. For a moment, the two men - the only two left in the office - looked at one another; Yosuke was clearly very tired, and as a contrast to his usual brightness, right now he just seemed weary. 

Souji hesitated. He’d spent the last decade building a wall. Could he drop that? Just for this?

Yosuke sighed, rubbing his face; he made a move to push past, and Souji finally spoke.

“I heard about your mother. Are you doing okay?”

The brunette stopped, staring at Souji for a moment with wide, shocked eyes; he hesitated for a moment, then merely shrugged. 

“I’m fine.” 

It was very clearly not true, and even as he felt himself slipping, losing all of the emotional fortitude he’d gained over the past nine years, this hurt Souji. He remembered a time in which they could tell each other everything, understand anything. It was this that pushed him to speak again.

“You’re not okay, Yosuke.” 

As he said this, the tired expression on the brunette’s face twisted into what almost looked like a snarl; it surprised Souji, who pulled back as Yosuke clenched his fist. 

“I’m not okay? What do _you_ care? _Who are you_ to decide that you know me anymore? You haven’t given a rat’s ass about me or my family since we met again, don’t try to tell me that you’ve suddenly grown a conscience and started to care.”

As true as it was, it still stung, and the sheer hypocrisy of it all pushed Souji’s uncertain concern back into a boiling anger, the likes of which he hadn’t allowed himself to feel in a long time. “Rich words coming from _you_ ,” he snapped back. “ _I’m_ not the one who cut off all communication and dropped a friendship that I’d previously sworn _meant_ something to me.”

Of all the reactions he’d expected, for Yosuke to recoil in guilt and horror was not one of them. The expression was so raw, so _agonized_ that Souji found himself feeling unbalanced; it gave him pause, and as he hesitated, Yosuke dropped back into his chair, sinking his face into his hands.

Souji could only feel confusion, and before the silence between them could grow longer, the brunette gave a shuddering sigh and started to speak, his voice aching with pain.

“Don’t you think I _know_ how much I fucked up? Don’t you think I’ve been suffering from that this entire time? _My phone broke_ , Souji. I was on my way to work and I tripped and dropped it into a puddle. I couldn’t dry it out and it took me a week to get my paycheck so that I could buy another one. I messaged you back as soon as I got your text, but I-” He choked here, passing a hand across his face. “I was too late. You were already gone.”

There was no way that Yosuke was making up this kind of emotion, not with the pain in his voice. His revelation stunned Souji, who had convinced himself that it had all been deliberate; the flood of hope was a tidal wave, but he still remembered the days and nights, months - no, _years_ \- of extreme loneliness.

Could he trust such a thing?

* * *

This was not how Yosuke had envisioned telling Souji about his mistake, but at least he'd finally been able to do it. It would have been nice if he hadn't also had to worry about his mother - Ted had said that she was resting and that the meds had seemed to work, so he wasn't going to go back until after this project, if he could manage it.

But he _had_ told Souji, and there was an expression in Souji's eyes that gave Yosuke the first hope he'd had in a decade. There was _emotion_ there, and uncertainty, and Yosuke was just about to follow up with a plea for forgiveness when they were both startled by the chime of the clock.

“Shit.” The brunette winced, grabbing for his briefcase. “I've got to make the last train.”

Souji hesitated for a moment - Yosuke knew that he drove, whereas the brunette had a license and no car - but didn't say anything, just nodded and stepped back to let Yosuke leave. That suited the brunette; he had no idea how things were between them right now, and being offered a ride would have been awkward. At the door, he turned to grab his coat; Souji was still standing there, next to his desk, and the brunette took a moment to look back.

“Have a good night, Souji.”

He didn’t stop for a response, but he heard, as the door was closing behind him,

“Good night, Yosuke.”

* * *

The first thing Yosuke _should_ have done when he’d finally gotten home (he’d managed to catch the last train with five minutes to spare) was put food in to heat and grab a bath.

Instead, what he _did_ was head for his office, where he kept the few boxes he’d brought from his room when he moved out for uni. Even though a voice in the back of his head was telling him that _it didn’t matter, this was just as likely to backfire remember why you’d had trouble responding in the first place_ , he decided to ignore it. Souji had been his friend. Yosuke _missed_ him, even more than he loved him. Even if there was a chance they could never get the old dynamic back, didn’t he owe it to himself - to _both_ of them - to try?

Finally, he found the box that had all of the odds-and-ends from his high school days; digging through it, he fished out the small bag that had two cellphones - one drowned and one replaced on his move back to the city where Junes-brand phone plans really weren’t that useful. He’d kept them at first, hoping that if he’d ever gotten a chance to see Souji, he could prove that it was all a mistake; once that first blush of hope had faded he’d just left them as junk in his boxes, ignoring that small flame in his heart that apparently had never gone out. The destroyed one, of course, would never work again, but after some fiddling with the out-of-date charger, Yosuke was able to power up the other one, enough to turn on. Scrolling back, he found that he still had the old texts, dates and all.

Did it matter? Probably not. But the more Yosuke thought about Souji, the more he desperately wanted to at least somewhat exonerate himself in his former friend’s eyes.

Slipping the phones into his briefcase, he took a bath and had a quick dinner; sleep was hard to find, and he laid awake, thinking all the harder about Souji for each time that he rolled over and told himself not to.

He dreamed that night of kissing Souji. As if _that_ wasn’t going to make things awkward…

* * *

The next day, Souji took his lunch break on the roof. Often, everyone went out together, but when they were in a crunch - as they were right now - most folks just brought or bought lunches, eating them as they had a moment. The crunch wasn’t _too_ bad, so he could take his hour; it was nice up on the roof. It was peaceful.

That day had already been… odd. Not necessarily _bad_ , just nothing he’d expected. He and Yosuke greeted one another normally but it hadn’t felt quite so… bitter. Then it had been nose-to-the-grindstone until lunch; now he was just thinking back to the night before.

He hadn’t expected any of it, but it had happened, and he’d spent a somewhat-sleepless night trying to parse it all. It really was hard to believe - and now, he still had trouble realising that all of the hatred he’d harboured for the past decade was… crumbling. It made him feel a little unsteady, although he wasn’t the kind of person who would cling to anger or hatred just Because.

Just then, he heard something behind him; turning, he saw Yoske coming onto the roof. Stiffening a little - just because they’d talked didn’t suddenly make them best friends again - Souji raised an eyebrow; when he saw that Yosuke was holding two old cell phones, one familiar and one not, his stomach did a flip.

Did he believe Yosuke? Maybe, but proof… might be nice.

“I know it’s too late, I just- wanted to show you that I wasn’t blowing steam when I said what I did yesterday.” When he said this, Yosuke had a very chagrined look on his face, and Souji couldn’t help feeling bad. He took the phones, however, that Yosuke offered him; one, the familiar one, was very obviously bricked. The other had a set of texts pulled up; the content was familiar to Souji, but the delivery dates were all on one day, and it _was_ after he’d left Japan. He couldn’t forget that date.

When he saw the ‘returned’ text, he didn’t know what to say or how to feel. Blinking hard, he looked away; half of him wanted to cry and the other half wanted to just… run. All of the feelings he’d locked away were coming back and they _hurt_ ; he didn’t know how to hope anymore. What was he supposed to _do_ now that he had Yosuke “back”?

But… having Yosuke back was worth it. Even if he’d never admitted it, it was everything he’d wanted in the last nine years - being able to _talk_ to Yosuke again, with the knowledge that his friend _hadn’t_ been ignoring him.

He was just looking up, having rid himself of the tears in his eyes, when he caught Yosuke watching him with a cautious expression.

“To be honest, I always wondered one thing. You knew where I lived. I didn’t know where you were, of course, because nobody could give me your address, but… why didn’t you ever write?”

This hit home particularly hard, and Souji winced. “I-” Honestly, he’d thought about it. But… “When I finally realised that you weren’t going to respond there weren’t enough days left in Japan to get a response. And then, by the time I got to Istanbul and we’d settled down enough to _have_ an address I was just…” He paused; it was hard to admit just how badly Yosuke had hurt him. It wasn’t like he thought it wasn’t obvious, but… _saying_ it was hard. “...empty. Honestly, by that point I would rather have had radio silence than some flippant response, or, well- a message telling me that you hated me.”

Seeing the brunette look indignant at this last comment made Souji feel both better and worse. “I know,” he said, quietly. “If I’d written, this would all have been solved. In the end, it’s my fault that we spent this much time upset with each other.”

There was silence for a moment before Yosuke spoke up. “Not wholly.” He sighed. “I hadn’t exactly been quick on my responses before that. I can see why you gave it so long before deciding that I’d flaked out on you - and if I hadn’t been such a dumbass I could have asked Chie or Naoto to let you know about my phone. That was just as much my fault.”

Even though Souji’s first instinct was to protest this, he knew that Yosuke was right. They’d both been at fault, both had paid, both had learned. Now, it was just about seeing whether or not they could fix it. The brunette’s response did bring up another question, though.

“Why… _were_ you avoiding me?”

He wasn’t prepared for the flush that immediately suffused Yosuke’s face as the brunette looked away for a moment, then back as he regained his composure. “I was dealing with stupid teenage shit at the time. I was jealous that you’d gone back to the city, and I was mad that you were gone, and- I just didn’t want to hurt you by saying something. Which was stupid, because I ended up hurting both of us.”

“We were both at fault,” Souji said, shaking his head. “Now that we’ve had it out, there’s no reason to dwell on it, right?”

“Yeah, true.” Yosuke gave him a lopsided smile that made his heart squeeze - he really hadn’t ever gotten over the brunette, had he? - and after staring at Souji’s bento for a moment that made Souji laugh inwardly (he always had been a mooch), finally shook his head.

“Can I have your new cell number?” He pulled out a phone that looked much like the old one, still orange but this time much sleeker, and Souji chuckled.

“Will you actually _respond_ this time?”

“Yes, I will.” The brunette made another face and Souji’s chuckle turned into a laugh.

“Sounds good.” He brought his own phone out, and the two of them exchanged contact information; as Souji slipped it back into his pocket, he caught Yosuke looking at his bento again.

“Nuh-uh, this is _my_ lunch. Get your own.”

As they laughed, Souji took a deep breath. Sure, steps had been taken, but one couldn’t just take a 16-year-old’s friendship and update it by nine years, overnight. There was a lot of pain between them - but there was also a burgeoning trust again, and that made it all worthwhile.

It was a step forward, and for that, Souji was grateful.

* * *

Yosuke had wondered if, given how rapidly they’d grown to depend on one another back in Inaba, they might not have a harder time of it this time; after a couple of weeks he was glad to say that he was completely wrong, and things were already back to the point that it felt like they’d never split. It had taken a little time to get used to spending time _together_ with _friends_ outside of _work_ , and not all of their childhood hobbies had grown with them, but it was just so nice to hang out together that neither of them seemed to mind. Yosuke found himself idly wondering if ‘roommates’ was a potential option for them, but he also knew how awkward it would be with the feelings he still very much held for Souji, so he put that aside for now.

Work was work, and luckily both of them enjoyed what they did, so it wasn’t quite as bad as going to school in the mornings. Souji still loved cats - he’d adopted two, a scrappy white-and-black shorthair named Vasha, and a grey tabby named Nagi - and he still loved to cook. This, of course, made Yosuke _very_ happy, because Souji had gotten into the habit of inviting Yosuke over on quite a few nights each week. Yosuke - who still loved music, even if he’d never pursued it as a career - started taking his guitar over; for whatever reason, Souji had always loved to listen to him play and sing, and that hadn’t changed, either.

One night, about a month after their reconciliation, Yosuke was winding down after a shower when his phone rang. He immediately tensed - nobody called him this late, and he’d just been texting with Souji, so he knew his friend was okay - and one look at the display told him his fears were correct.

Teddie was on the other end, voice quivering.

“Yosuke! It’s mom, she had another seizure. Dad took her to the hospital, and he said they’re going to take her in for surgery! He said to call you because you’ll wanna get here as soon as you can.”

Yosuke knew what surgery they were talking about; it was something experimental which had been mentioned when he’d been home for Christmas, a last-ditch effort which could be wildly successful - or a failure. If they’d decided to do it, it meant that they had no other choices. Even as his stomach sank through the floor, however, he could hear the terror in his little brother’s voice.

“I’m beary scared, Yosuke! I don’t wanna lose mom like we almost lost Nana-chan!”

Mustering a courage he didn’t feel himself, Yosuke spent the next few minutes calming Teddie; once the boy was reassured, however, and Yosuke was able to hang up, he did - he was going to have to try to figure out how to get home.

His options were dismal. He could drive, but he didn’t have a car. He could rent one, but finding a place at this hour would be rough - and they tended to be expensive. Flights and trains were an option, but it was late enough that there were no more leaving until the morning. It was already a trip that would last anywhere from three hours to eight, depending on how he travelled. Waiting for the morning was time he _didn’t have_.

Just then, the screen lit up with another text from Souji; without even pausing to think, Yosuke pressed the ‘call' button. The old days, where Souji was the leader who always figured out what to do, were still ingrained in the brunette, and he needed that guidance right now. It wasn’t that he needed _anybody_ , though - to be honest, he just needed Souji.

His resolve to keep cool only lasted until he heard his friend’s voice.

“Yosuke?”

“ _Partner_.” He was panicking so hard that his voice was a croak, but he didn’t care. Souji was always the one to stay calm in these situations, and he needed that right now.

“Yosuke, what’s wrong?”

The concern in Souji’s voice was enough to push Yosuke over the tipping point, and he found tears of worry and fright spilling down his cheeks as he hiccupped through his story. His friend listened quietly, as he always did; once the brunette had finished, Souji’s calm voice came over the phone.

“Pack your bag, I’ll be over in hour after I pack my own bag, ask the landlady to feed the cats, and gas up the car.”

It was the last thing Yosuke had expected when he’d called Souji, and he tried to protest; he’d just been looking for commiseration. He couldn’t get three words out, however, before his friend shushed him.

“Tomorrow’s our Saturday off, and we have Sunday. If we have to stay Monday, we can let work know. I’m not taking no for an answer, Yosuke.”  

The brunette still felt guilty, but he also knew that Souji meant it when he said he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. And to be honest… Yosuke didn’t want to be alone right now. In fact, if he had to choose _anybody_ to be with right now that wasn’t his family, he would have picked Souji.

What was he saying? Souji _was_ family.

Closing his eyes, the brunette finally exhaled. “Okay. Thank you.”

“No problem, Yosuke. It’s what partners do.”

Yosuke’s hands were shaking as he hung up, but even if he was still a panicking wreck, he felt a thousand times better after talking to Souji. Sending a quick text to his father and brother to tell them that he’d be leaving by car within the hour, he pulled out his overnight bag - he always kept one partially packed with sundries he’d need in case of an emergency like this - and he’d just finished pulling a sweater on over his shirt when he heard footsteps at his apartment door, then a quiet knock.

The first thing Souji did when Yosuke opened the door was pull the brunette into a hug. Yosuke tensed for a moment - they hadn’t been this close since that day on the riverbank a decade ago - but his insecurities over how he felt about his friend took a backseat to his anxiety, and after a moment he exhaled softly before tightening his hands on the back of Souji’s jacket. They stood that way for a moment, then he stepped back, blinking hard.

“I’m okay. I’ll be okay. But we should probably get going.”

“We should. Did you set your light timers? Turn off the faucets and any electronics?”

Trust Souji to be ready with a checklist. Yosuke appreciated it, though, because he certainly wasn’t thinking about those things himself; he grabbed two bottles of water out of the fridge before he locked up and followed Souji to his car. Throwing his bag into the back seat next to Souji’s, he climbed into the passenger seat, and they were off.

It took them some time to get out of the city, and the first thing they did once they were finally on open road was stop for coffee (which Yosuke bought, of course). Even after all these years he still remembered how Souji took his - black with cream and no sugar, while Yosuke still drank his sweet. They couldn’t afford much time off the road, however; it was a nine hour drive, although at least they were doing it at night when they were less likely to be dealing with traffic.

Once they were travelling again Yosuke kept his cellphone on his knee, constantly tapping the button to keep an eye on his texts, praying for an update. After a little while of this, Souji - who’d been keeping a side-eye on the brunette the entire time - cleared his throat.

“Remember Kubo’s dungeon? I wonder if it would still hold up after all these years. After all, video games have come a long way since then.”

Yosuke looked surprised, but it was an intriguing thought. “Well, with VR and everything else these days, maybe he would have gone for something like that. Or maybe he still would have been one of those “I played _real_ games, 2D side-scrollers” kinda jerks. Or maybe it would have been a more recent classic.”

“Final Fantasy XII?”

“Nah, Chrono Trigger.”

“Frogger.”

“Dude, that’s _older_ than the shit Kubo had. Sonic?”

“Mortal Kombat.”

“That… would actually be kind of cool. I mean, it’s already pretty close. Your personas are, like, the selection screen, and the shadows are the different stages, and we even managed to pull off some pretty cool group attacks.”

The brunette found himself getting into the conversation, which was a godsend. Of course he knew that Souji had done it for that purpose - but it didn’t temper his interest, for which he was grateful. From here, the conversation shifted from topic to topic; luckily, it was always easy to chat with Souji, and they had no end of things to talk about.

After the first two hours, they switched drivers - since Yosuke had his license he’d driven Souji’s car a couple of times, and there was no way that one person could drive for nine hours. Well, more like eight, according to the GPS, since with no traffic they were making better time.

 _Thank heavens for small favours_.

It was on Souji’s second stint that Yosuke’s phone finally died, since he’d been too keyed up and worried, as well as too focused on the conversation, to remember to check the charge. He went to flip the screen on, only to see it flicker and then shut off; panic gripped him, and he immediately started to dig through his pockets, although he knew he didn’t have a portable battery on him. He had a charger in his bag, but it was a wall plug - there’d never been any use for a USB charger at his parents’, when they didn’t even have a computer.

A wave of hopelessness washed over him and all of the stress and panic he’d kept away over the past few hours came crashing back down; it wasn’t manly, but he couldn’t help putting a hand over his eyes as he started to cry angry tears of frustration.

“I swear to _god_ cellphones are the bane of my existence! I hate them so much!”

Giving a faint wince, Souji reached out, placing his hand on Yosuke’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay, Yosuke. I believe it. We’ll get there, and you’ll be able to check in and she’ll be resting fine, okay?”

Yosuke knew Souji didn’t _know_ , but hearing him stay positive helped the brunette blink away his tears. “Yeah. Okay, yeah.” Having Souji there made it feel like they were back in Inaba nine years ago, and even despite all of the anxiety and all of the panic, there was a warm feeling of comfort wrapped around him, like a blanket.

He was tired, so tired… surely it wouldn’t hurt to close his eyes for just a moment?

The last thing the brunette felt before drifting off to sleep was Souji’s hand covering his own.


	3. Chapter 3

Souji drove the last three hours on his own while Yosuke napped. It was hard, and once or twice he had to gulp some water and slap his cheeks, but he just _couldn’t_ wake the brunette. Not when he’d just end up worrying himself into an ulcer the moment he remembered his cell phone. No, better to keep on; if things had gotten _too_ bad, Souji would have pulled off and napped for twenty minutes, but instead he managed to get them into Inaba without having to stop again.

The sun was a fair ways up in the sky by the time he pulled into the hospital parking lot; a siren went off nearby, and that woke Yosuke, who blinked for a moment, then started as he realised that they’d stopped, that it was daylight, and that they were at their destination. He looked at Souji with an expression of chagrin on his face.

“Shit, partner, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to sleep half the trip, you should have woken me up-”

“It’s okay, Yosuke.” Souji was honestly exhausted, but he hid it the best he could with a smile - they still had things to do before he could claim his hard-earned rest. “Come on.” He was already climbing out of the vehicle; Yosuke scrambled to follow him, and the two - both looking (and feeling) crumpled - headed into the hospital.

Usually, the fact that everybody knew everybody else in a small town like Inaba was annoying, but right now, Souji felt it was a godsend. When they stepped inside, the nurse already knew who they were, and who they’d come for; all they had to do was walk up to the desk - he could see that Yosuke was shaking, so he put a hand on the brunette’s back for reassurance.

“Welcome, Mr. Hanamura. I take it you’re here for your mother? She’s resting right now. The doctor’s orders are that she should be left strictly alone, but you can see her later, once she wakes.”

It was clear that she thought that they knew more than they did, but her words sounded positive; Yosuke flashed a look at Souji, then turned back to her. “Does- does that mean she’s okay?”

The nurse looked confused, but she still answered. “She is, she passed her surgery and is out of danger and resting comfortably. Did you not get the news?”

At the words “out of danger,” the brunette’s legs almost gave out; the hand Souji had resting on his back grabbed his waist, and he managed to catch Yosuke before he lost his balance. 

“Thank god,” the brunette whispered; there were tears in his eyes and honestly, in Souji’s eyes as well. “No, my phone died on the drive and I missed any texts in the last four hours. Are dad and Ted around?”

“No, they went home for the time being.” The nurse rummaged in a pile for a moment, then pulled out a card that she slid over to Yosuke. He skimmed it, then nodded. 

“I see. Thank you very much. We’ll be back later.” When Souji raised an eyebrow, the brunette turned back to him. “Dad and Ted went home to sleep. Dad says the key is out for me, so I can go home and crash, and we’ll all visit again later.”

“I’m glad, Yosuke.” They’d moved away from the front desk to let others speak with the nurse; Souji finally felt as if he could breathe again, and he was just so relieved that he was about to fall asleep then and there. “Okay. I’ll grab a hotel room - I’m not going to bother uncle on this short a notice, even though I’ll make sure to see them before we go. But I’ll-”

“Hotel? What the hell.” Yosuke sounded incredulous, and Souji looked at him. “Dude, don’t be an idiot. You can crash at our place. It’ll be like old times, yeah? We’ve still got a guest futon, and Ted’s got his own room now.” 

Hesitating for a moment, Souji finally nodded. He was so tired that he could taste it now, and really, there was no reason for him _not_ to take Yosuke up on the offer.

“Alright, Yosuke. Thanks… but let’s head over there now, I’m kinda running on empty right now.”

“You got it, partner.”

* * *

Even after a decade, it seemed, Souji had the route from the hospital to the Hanamuras’ memorised. To be fair, after what they’d been through there, it wasn’t really something one could forget; still, remembering that November so long ago made Yosuke think about how he’d almost lost his mother that morning, and how he _had_ lost Souji for years. That was ten years they’d never get back again.

_Maybe that’s why I keep feeling as if I need to make up for lost time._

As promised, the key had been in its usual place, and the two had tiptoed their way up to Yosuke’s room, doing their best not to make noise that would disturb Teddie or Yosuke’s father. Still, if they were anything near as tired as he and Souji, Yosuke figured that he probably could have dropped a few pans and not have awakened anyone.

The brunette was so tired by the time he pulled the guest futon out onto his floor that he collapsed, face-first, onto his bed without even thinking about changing his clothes. Souji climbed into the futon - after a grateful ‘Thanks, partner’ - without changing either, and there was a mutual sigh of relief between the two.

On the bed, Yosuke couldn’t help thinking that it felt like old times. They used to have frequent sleepovers; together like this, with Souji in his guest futon, the brunette would have sworn that they weren’t 25 anymore, they were sixteen. Maybe it was because he was so tired that he was punch-drunk, maybe it was because he was tired of almost losing people that mattered to him, but finally… he couldn’t keep it in anymore. 

“Hey, Souji? You know how I said I was dealing with teenage crap, and that’s why I’d been so slow in responding, way back when?” His voice was little more than a whisper, but he was pretty sure that his friend would hear him. 

“Yeah?” It was a mumble, but it sounded relatively awake. Besides, Yosuke was too far to stop now.

“It’s- it’s because I was in love with you and scared, but then I lost you and everything went wrong... but I never _stopped_ loving you.”

He finished this up with a rush, hardly believing he’d let himself say it; after a few moments of silence, however, he looked over with his stomach dropping only to see Souji’s eyes closed, chest slowly rising and falling with the cadence of his breaths. 

_He’s asleep_.

The brunette couldn’t help feeling embarrassed, but at the same time, a little relieved. Besides, Yosuke knew that Souji was even more exhausted than he was; he’d driven the better part of eight hours just so that Yosuke could get home to see his mother, and the brunette couldn’t - _wouldn’t_ \- assume Souji didn’t care anymore. And as long as they were friends, that was all that mattered.

_Maybe someday I’ll muster up the courage to confess again._

* * *

The sun was on its downward descent, hours later, when both men were startled awake by Teddie slamming Yosuke’s door open and shrieking _Senseiiiii!_ as he lept onto Souji’s futon on the floor. Yosuke immediately shouted for him to “leave Souji alone, you stupid bear!” and Souji laughed, hugging the boy as Teddie threw his arms around his long-absent friend. 

“Sensei, it’s been so long! I missed you so _beary_ much!”

“I know, Ted. I’m sorry I didn’t keep in touch better.” Souji sighed, and Yosuke could see the guilt etched on his friend’s face and he quickly changed the subject; they could talk about stuff like that later.

“Dad still here?” He was out of bed by now, and Teddie was helping Souji stand up. His clothes felt gross; he _hated_ sleeping in them, and before he went _anywhere_ he was going to get a shower.

“Uh-uh. He had to go to work. He said he was gonna stop by the hospital to see mom, and that you and I should go once we were all up.”

“Sounds good.” Rummaging in his overnight bag, he pulled out a change of clothes. “What about you, partner? You wanna come with us? I know mom would like to see you again.”

He saw Souji hesitate, and after a moment, his friend shook his head. “Not this visit. You guys should go see her by yourselves anyway; she’s been through a lot and I’m sure she’d prefer to have some downtime with her sons. I want to go by and see uncle and Nanako, anyway. I’ll go with you tomorrow, how’s that sound? Go ahead and get your shower first, Yosuke.”

While Yosuke would have liked for Souji to stay at his side for the whole trip, he knew that his friend had a point. They both headed out about the same time; Yosuke found himself feeling a little listless until he got to the hospital, but the joy on his mother’s face at seeing her sons - compounded by the conspicuous lack of pain lines around her mouth and eyes - pushed those emotions out of his mind, and they spent a good few hours with her, even sitting through a dinner where Mrs. Hanamura managed to eat more than Yosuke had seen her eat in years. 

She was especially happy to hear that Souji was in town. “I haven’t seen Souji-kun in so long! I remember how sad you were when he moved, Yosuke. You should bring him by tomorrow.”

He promised he would. It made him happy.

He was less happy when he got back to the house to find Souji packing his bag. For a moment, he found his heart sinking. Was his friend already leaving to go back to the city? Would he really just leave Yosuke here? When Souji looked up and saw him, however, a slightly chagrined expression crossed his face.

“Sorry. Uncle and Nanako are insisting I spend the rest of the nights I’m here with them, and to be fair, it’s been a _long_ time.” The brunette really couldn’t argue with this - especially not after envisioning Nanako’s face - but his disappointment must have shown on his face, because Souji’s expression morphed into a softer one as he put his hand on the brunette’s shoulder.

“I’ll still be here with you, you know. I’ll go with you to see your mom tomorrow, and uncle and Nanako want you and Teddie to come over to dinner tomorrow.” A pause. “How _is_ your mother doing?” 

Yosuke felt a little better, knowing that Souji was going to do his best to spend time with the brunette, and he brightened at the question about his mother. “She’s doing really well, actually. She wants me to bring you by tomorrow, and I told her I would. Dinner with Dojima and Nanako-chan, eh? That sounds great. How’s she doing? She’s a second year, right?” 

“Yeah. Same year we were when we met.” Souji’s eyes crinkled when he smiled, and the sight made Yosuke’s stomach flutter. He ignored it, however, and nodded. “So you’re heading back now?” 

“Not right this second. I was waiting for you to get back.” Souji smiled. “Fancy a walk down to Souzai Daigaku for some skewers before I go?”

From the next room, they heard “ _Sennnnseiiiiii! I wanna go too!_ ” Souji laughed quietly, looking at Yosuke, who just shrugged.

“Yeah, let’s all go. It’ll be like old times.”

“Yeah.” Souji had a smile on his face that made Yosuke’s heart happy. “Maybe we’ll run into Kanji?”

“Mmm, maybe.” Yosuke looked thoughtful. “He’s here from time to time to visit his folks, though he’s usually with Naoto.”

“We should get everybody together the next time we come back.” They were downstairs by this point, and Souji sat to put on his shoes. “It’s been too long.”

“That it has.” Yosuke smiled softly, watching the back of his friend’s head - of course, when Teddie gave him an odd look, he made a face at his little brother. 

It was good to have everything back to normal.

* * *

The next day was Sunday, and when they visited Mrs. Hanamura, the doctor was there to tell them with relative certainty (nobody at that hospital had forgotten Nanako Dojima, and Yosuke was pretty sure that they would never say “completely certain” again) that she was on the mend, even if she’d be recovering for a long time yet. 

With that joyful news buoying their spirits - Yosuke was grateful to see that Souji seemed just as relieved as he was - they decided to head back to Tokyo the next morning. They’d have to each take a day off, but even though Yosuke knew that management wouldn’t be _happy_ , he was also pretty sure they’d understand. He’d already reached out by email the day before, and had been told to keep them informed. Besides, they’d do some work on the drive, and that would probably be enough to placate the higher-ups. 

He didn’t want to leave so soon - not after everything that had happened, not after seeing the joy on Nanako’s and Dojima’s faces when they greeted the two for dinner, not after hearing his mother’s voice, free of pain for the first time in years, not before they could see their other friends - but that would all have to wait. They didn’t have an exact date yet, but they’d resolved to come back in the next couple of months, spend a week if they could. For now, they had to get back to work.

Monday morning, Souji was at the Hanamuras’ bright and early; Yosuke was a little sleepier than he’d wanted to be - they’d been up late the night before drinking with Dojima, and although Yosuke wasn’t hungover he wasn’t sure how Souji was managing, given that he was always slow to wake up in the mornings. 

_Super slow. Like, do-you-even-know-who-you-are slow_. It was actually… really cute. 

It also wasn’t something he needed to be thinking about right now. 

But there was coffee, and defrosted cream puffs, and soon enough they were on the road. Work wasn’t really how Yosuke (or Souji, for that matter) wanted to spend their drive back, but it was so much more relaxed than their trip down that he couldn’t complain. Besides, it wasn’t like it didn’t go quickly; ever since he and Souji had mended their friendship, even busywork had been a thousand times easier to get through because they worked so well together. And they still had time to laugh and chat; they stopped for lunch at a ramen shop in the outskirts of Nagoya, they stopped for coffee, for gas, just to walk around, and at a grocery store so that Souji would have some cat food when he got home.

This last stop happened about an hour before they got into Tokyo; they’d needed gas and there was a supermarket next door to the station, so Yosuke sat in the car and finished up the report they’d been writing to email off to the rest of the team. Souji wasn’t gone for too long; when he came out he had a paper bag from which he produced a bottle of green tea for himself, and a bottle of lemon black tea for Yosuke, which the brunette took gratefully. Souji just waved his thanks off with a smile as he sat the bag in the floorboards behind the passenger seat.

As the roofs and skyscrapers of Tokyo began to rise around them, Yosuke couldn’t help but sigh. As terrible as the reason for them going back to Inaba had been, it had still been… nice. Even the trip down, when he was panicking - having Souji at his side had made it, well, _okay_. He knew he had support no matter what happened. Then, when nothing bad happened, it was nice to be in Inaba together again, as if they were teens again. But now they were back to being adults, and they’d have to pick the daily grind back up in the morning. 

When they got to Yosuke’s street, however, Souji kept driving; the brunette shot him a look, but his friend just smiled lightly. 

“It’s not even time for dinner. I don’t know about you, but I’m not quite ready for our mini-vacation to be over.”

Yosuke certainly wasn’t going to argue. “Honestly, same. The weekend’s never long enough, even when we get an extra day! Where we headed?”

“Eh, I just figured I’d find a place where we could walk around a bit and finish our drinks, then maybe we could grab some food?” Souji smiled again, and Yosuke couldn’t help returning it. He was just thinking about where they could get dinner when the car stopped; looking up, he saw that they were at a park - well, more like a rectangle of grass with a few trees and some benches - but the view it afforded of the city was lovely, especially in the setting sun. A nice spot to bring one’s sweetheart, although the brunette pushed that thought aside. 

_Just as nice a spot to spend time with one’s friend_.

Stretching, he climbed out of the car with a bit of a groan; he’d stayed seated for the last stop, and it took him a moment or two to work the stiffness out of his knees. Uncapping his tea, he took a long drink as he walked towards the railing of the overlook; behind him, he heard the paper bag rustling and figured that Souji must have finished his tea and was going in for another. Or perhaps he was pulling out a snack. Leaning on the upper rail, he chuckled.

“Remember what Nanako-chan said, partner. Snacks will just spoil your dinner.”

“Mmm.” He heard Souji come up to the rail next to him. “Good thing I don't have any snacks, then.”

“Hmm?” Yosuke turned his head to look at Souji; it took a moment to register that his friend was standing there with a small bouquet of flowers wrapped in brown paper in his hands. When it did sink in, the brunette’s eyes widened.

“Dude, why do you have-?”

With a small - but soft - smile, Souji held them out, and Yosuke couldn't help but take them, just as he couldn't help but notice that they were mismatched and charming. Yellow chrysanthemums shared space with purple daisies and red carnations and orange tiger lilies; they were grocery-store flowers, a “the thought that matters” bouquet, and the thought that mattered was that Souji had bought them for him.

Yosuke opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out because he had no idea _what_ to say. Before he could figure it out, Souji was speaking, looking at the bouquet in the brunette’s hand.

“I always wanted to give you flowers.” His tone of voice was almost nostalgic, and the words made Yosuke's breath catch in the back of his throat. “I'd finally decided that I'd bring you some when you came to visit me in Tokyo, but well… we both know how that went.”

Yosuke's heart beat painfully as he watched his friend, his thoughts whirling. He was still unable to let himself hope that this was what he wanted it to be, _could_ be what he wanted it to be. He tried to respond, but “Ah?” was all he could manage; he was about to kick himself when Souji looked up at him, a smile on his face.

“Back when we… stopped talking - I loved you, too. That's why it hurt so much, why I couldn't bring myself to write. Because it felt like an end to my hopes as well as to our partnership.” Yosuke could only wince, but there was still a gentle smile on Souji's face. “I still love you now, you know?”

The brunette had never noticed how much a single phrase could shift his entire perception of his surroundings, but as Souji said “I still love you,” Yosuke suddenly became aware of how bright the setting sun was, how it traced Souji's face and hands, how it cast comfortable shadows in the small copse of trees behind them. They were high enough over the city that it seemed as if they could see the entire world; it felt like everything in his life was distilled into this tiny pinprick of time - then suddenly his cheeks flushed brilliantly, radiantly crimson as a realisation struck him.

“Wait! 'Too’? You were asleep! You couldn’t hear me!”

At this, _Souji_ blushed, and Yosuke found his heart squeezing at how cute his partner looked. “I… wasn't asleep,” he mumbled. “I was just so exhausted that I didn't know how to react, so I stayed still until I could think about it… and _then_ I fell asleep.” The blush hadn't left yet, and Yosuke watched him cast around for his words with fascination. Souji was _never_ tongue-tied, this was a definite treat. “I thought about it the next day when you went to the hospital, but there really wasn't a lot to think about. I love you, we found each other again, and I don't want to lose you.” Seeing Yosuke watching him, he smiled, his cheeks still flushed. “I just wanted to find a nice moment to tell you, but I'm sorry I made you wait.”

Yosuke couldn’t keep the smile off his face. “I waited for a decade, Souji. I'd wait a decade more. I'm just glad I don't have to.”

Souji stepped forward, closing the gap between them, and Yosuke - still holding his flowers - threw his arms around his partner’s shoulders as he leaned in for a kiss. It wasn't an awkward teenage kiss, either; it was soft and sweet and a little desperate, and as Souji's hands found their resting places on Yosuke's hips, the brunette tugged him closer, his back to the railing as Souji leaned against him. 

The fact that they were standing here, making out in the sunset, after the brunette had spent so many years believing that Souji was gone for good was… well, nothing short of a miracle. As they finally pulled apart, Souji reached up to cup Yosuke’s cheeks, and the look on his face said that his thoughts were trending in much the same direction. As he brushed aside a strand of the brunette’s hair aside with his thumb, he whispered quietly,

“Let me take you to dinner?”

Leaning his cheek against Souji’s palm, Yosuke couldn’t help but laugh. “As if I’d say no. And afterwards-” he knew he was being bold here, but he didn’t care “-my place? You’ve got your overnight bag, after all…”

Inhaling sharply, Souji studied the brunette’s face for a moment before nodding, leaning in for another kiss. “I think that sounds very good indeed.” Before their lips touched, however, he started back, a frown on his face. “Wait, no, I can’t-”

For a moment, Yosuke felt panic set in; memory, however, came swiftly to his rescue. “Oh _right_. Your cats.” Souji had, after all, just stopped for cat food (and flowers, it seemed.)

“Yeah. But, uh… you could… come back to my place?” The hopeful, _shy_ expression on his partner’s face was wonderful, and Yosuke couldn’t help but smile at it. “I just don’t want to leave Nagi and Vasha home alone too much, even if my landlady was nice enough to agree to check in on them.”

“It’s ok, partner, I getcha.” They hadn’t moved and Souji’s hand was still on Yosuke’s cheek, but the brunette didn’t mind in the least. “Man, though… I’m hurt that you don’t have a cat named Jiraiya.” 

Souji’s face fell at this. “Yosuke…” The brunette immediately regretted making the joke, and he leaned in to bump his forehead against his partner’s, just for a moment. 

“Hey, I know, I know. I understand, I promise. Maybe when we move in together.”

“Mmmmm.” The sun was setting by now, and Souji turned them back towards his car, keeping his arm around Yosuke’s waist as they meandered down the hill. “Planning ahead already, are we?” His voice was amused, however, and Yosuke could tell that he wasn’t bothered.

“Is it too soon?” Even if Souji wasn’t bothered, Yosuke didn’t want to jump the gun. They were at the car by now, and they paused to climb in; Souji took a moment to adjust his mirrors as they put their seatbelts on, and then he turned to the brunette, an expression in his eyes that Yosuke… wasn’t used to.

“Yes, I think today is too soon to talk about that. Tomorrow morning, though… I don’t think it will be.”

His tone of voice made Yosuke shiver, and the words “tomorrow morning” made everything feel _real_ and reminded the brunette of just what lay ahead. He wasn’t going to have to say goodnight to Souji this time… and he was looking forward to every minute. 

Going to work together was going to be nice, too, he suspected. 

“Well, we’ll just have to talk about it tomorrow morning,” he quipped lightly. “Or perhaps after work, over drinks.” He couldn’t really hide the joy in his voice, however; this was everything he’d wanted, and he knew that even if they still had things to sort out, they weren’t going to let past mistakes happen again.

With feelings that he didn’t even have names for overflowing his heart, he leaned in; Souji had been watching him with an expression of fondness that made the brunette’s heart skip, and as Yosuke moved closer, so did he.

“I love you,” Yosuke whispered. 

A smile illuminated Souji’s face, and he closed the gap to whisper, “I love you, too,” against the brunette’s lips. After that, they really didn’t need words to continue the conversation.


End file.
